This invention relates to a cinch sack type of container for storing or shipping huge quantities of material or mail.
Cinch sacks that are re-usable and conventionally known, and for the purpose of this invention, we will not be concerned with disposable types that are not re-usable such as waste or garbage sacks.
Cinch sacks have been around for many years. Cinch sacks come in different basic structures, mostly bag shaped with a cinch cord sewn into the opening or mouth of the sack. The cinch cord is free to slide through the sewn opening with both ends coming out one side of the sack. The ends of the cord could be pulled together to seal the mouth or opening by hand, then they could be secured by tying a knot to hold it shut. Although this would secure the contents, there are no means for untying said knot, which could prove difficult, depending on who tightened it; and what type of not one wishes to use. Handling the sack may either tighten the knot more or unravel it. In each case, the result could lead to loose content, or make it impossible to untie.
Another structure involves eye-lets that are crimped into the sack opening and the cinch cord weaved in and out of them and both ends of the cinch cord exit out of one eye-let on one side of the sack opening. This type of sack can also be tied in order to secure the contents. However, the same disadvantages will prevail.
Another disadvantage to this, is that there are no means of labeling the contents or where it is to be delivered. Most packing or mailing facilities use a name/address card holder to secure a pre-printed precut name/address card. The name/address card holder also performs the functions of locking the cinch cord. These two functions are common in postal facilities throughout the world. The cinch lock as is conventially known, performs two functions only. They lock up the cinch sack and provide a means for securing the name/address plate or card.
There are two major faults with the standard cinch lock system that needs to be addressed:
The locking system can come loose by dropping or handling alone causes them to unlock. In this case, the contents escape the sack, then said contents are either lost or damaged beyond repair by the machinery that moves the sacks. In one configuration, the cinch cord is wrapped around a plastic name plate which has notches to secure the cord. This is very unreliable and not much better than a knot. The other configuration involves a wing lock lever that pinches the cinch cord against an inside cord guide that is mounted on a name/address card holder, that sometimes breaks off. The locking lever has no means of being held in the locking position, but a loop is provided to either lace the remaining cinch cord through or to add a locking device to it, which is never provided as part of the unit. Most of the time, the cinch cord is not laced through the loop, since most personnel feel it is too time consuming to implement. Even when the cord is implemented to lock the lever, it leaves a lasso loop on the cinch cord to be caught on the bulk conveyors or machinery, or it may be untied in transport by said machinery. Either way, it leaves the cinch cord in a position to get hooked onto something that it is not supposed to. As another fault, conventional cinch locks allow the cinch cord to hang. Most of these locking devices that are presently used on mail cinch sacks were designed before automation in moving and sorting sacks. Cinch sacks were moved by hand, trucks or sorted manually. With the advent of sack sorting machines and bulk conveyors and the like, sacks having their cords hanging, proved to be incompatable with the machinery.
Millions of dollars are lost on a daily basis due to these two faults or shortcomings. Motors burn up when sacks are drawn into pulleys by their cores; belts get torn beyond repair; mail gets pulled off machines in sorting, or gets mis-sent, or jammed up, causing more sacks to tear open and lose mail after they open. Sacks that contain empty sacks for relocation are unlocked and still more loose sacks jam up more equipment. The cycle never ends. Sacks that are mis-sent risk more spills of loose contents. This jamming cycle also presents a safety problem. These jam ups introduce problems too numerous to itemize at this time.
Based on such circumstances, it is the object of this invention to provide a device that is double locking and self contained, so that the cinch cord is not hanging and so that the locking device can not come loose under any circumstances. It is also the object of this invention to provide a means of unlocking that absolutely can not occur unless it is unlocked on purpose by human hands only, not by a machine. It is also an object of this invention to provide a means of simple closing and tightly sealing by hand, and double locking without any further effort on the part of personnel.